NATO AIR
Senior Member
goddamnit why can't we do something to stop this? this is madness. these poor African Union troops are gonna end up just like the UN peacekeepers in Bosnia (the ones with consciences), fucked up and disillusioned, having to stand by and watch people get slaughtered with impunity.
http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1100922004
Darfur troops blow the whistle
FRED BRIDGLAND IN JOHANNESBURG
AFRICAN Union soldiers yesterday accused the Sudanese government of brazenly breaching the ceasefire in the Darfur region and continuing to attack villages with a contemptuous disregard for the presence of peace monitors.
AU peacekeepers claim the situation is "falling apart" in Darfur, with the Sudanese not complying with the ceasefire demands.
Their allegations come after the UN Security Council on Saturday approved a resolution threatening oil sanctions against Sudan if the government fails to rein in the Arab Janjaweed militias blamed for killing tens of thousands of black Africans in Darfur.
AU soldiers in Darfur leaked the contents of classified reports sent to the unions Addis Ababa headquarters, after their superiors refused to publish them. They paint a damning picture of the Sudanese governments contempt for peacekeeping.
"They [the government] are not acting in good faith," says the AUs mission chief, Ghanas Colonel Anthony Amedoh. "Everything is falling apart. There are so many clear violations by the Sudanese government. Theyre using aircraft where theyre not supposed to and theyre moving their forces all the time. They are not complying at all, but we cant stop them from violating the ceasefire, we can just report it. They just deny it and dont stop what they are doing."
The African commanders say the Sudan government is treating them like fools while its army, acting in close alliance with the Janjaweed militias, continues its ethnic cleansing of the Fur, Zaghawa, Masalit and other black African tribes.
Colonel Barry Steyn, commander of the small South African force with the AU mission, says he counts bodies of Sudan army and Janjaweed victims each week and sends classified reports to Addis Ababa. Describing maggot-infested decomposing skulls, he says: "You believe theres an inherent goodness in people, but you see some of these villages and it shakes that belief. You look at this stuff and it makes you turn dead white."
Saturdays Security Council vote was carried 11-0 with four abstentions - China, Russia, Pakistan and Algeria. China, a permanent council member with veto power and huge oil interests in Sudan, said immediately after the vote that it would veto any future resolution that sought to impose sanctions on Sudan. "I told the American government that the position of my government on sanctions is a firm one," said Chinas UN ambassador, Wang Guangya. "We always believe that sanctions are not a helpful means to achieve political objectives. It will only make matters worse."
The resolution says the council would have to meet again to consider sanctions against Sudans petroleum sector or other punitive measures if the Khartoum government does not act quickly to stop the violence and bring the perpetrators to justice - or if it fails to co-operate with the 480-strong AU monitoring force. The council also ordered an investigation into whether the attacks constituted genocide. A declaration of genocide would oblige the UN to intervene militarily under the Convention on Prevention of Genocide.
The AU commanders decided to break silence and talk freely to visiting South African reporters because of the futility of their task and the AUs refusal to publish what is really happening in Darfur.
"They [the Sudan Army] say theres a fuel problem when they want to keep us on the ground," says Major Gordon Schmidt, a South African communications officer. "They dont want us to take off because they dont want us to see. Its a big violation."
Schmidt was speaking as a Sudan army strike helicopter carrying 30 heavily armed soldiers took off on an attack mission from the Darfur town of Nyala. AU monitoring troops from Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Senegal and Egypt were ready to follow in their own choppers. But they are dependent on the Sudan army for fuel and, as flight crew stood ready, an AU soldier reported back: "The Sudanese say there is no fuel." By the time fuel arrived, the Sudanese attack was over. AU commanders and their troops watched from their tents and land cruisers as Sudanese officials welcomed back the attack force with smiles, hugs and multiple signing of forms.
"These people are not truthful, were always fighting about these fuel issues," says Sergeant William Molokwane of the South African Defence Force. "We are supposed to know about these movements - troops moving out of the city, attack helicopters flying in and out of the airport. They will only tell us, we are testing them."
As Sgt Molokwane sighs with frustration, a Nigerian soldier comes in from patrol and tells his commander, Colonel Negabi : "We caught them fighting together red-handed." He said Sudan soldiers and Janjaweed militiamen were jointly attacking civilians in a large refugee camp.
Sgt Molokwane is distraught. "Aside from our small protection force [of 120 Rwandan soldiers] there are absolutely no arms here," he says. "If something happens now, what can we do?"